Venice considers dusting off airport business park plan

Venice leaders are looking at an old plan for a business park on 140 acres of airport land.

By KIM HACKETT

Published: Monday, November 28, 2011 at 6:34 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, November 28, 2011 at 6:34 p.m.

VENICE - With about 180 aircraft hangars, warehouses and a central Gulf Coast location, city leaders say the Venice Municipal Airport could be an economic engine. All it will take, they say, is a little vision and planning.

Facts

VENICE PUTS NEIGHBORHOOD IN SAFETY ZONE

Despite protests by residents who accused the city of diminishing their property values, the Venice City Council approved a contentious airport plan that temporarily puts the Gulf Shores neighborhood in a safety zone.

About a dozen residents spoke on both sides of the issue before the council voted 6-1 to approve the plan, with council member Jim Bennett voting no.

The plan will now go back to the Federal Aviation Administration for final approval, which will then clear the way for the city to become eligible for about $20 million in airport improvements.

Most of the federal grant money, which the city has to apply for in competition with other communities, will pay for removing the Gulf Shores neighborhood from an air safety zone.

It involves shifting a runway to the southeast and installing an expensive crushable concrete bumper.

The city also plans to replace a crumbling runway. The improvements will require moving a driving range and several holes at the Lake Venice Golf Club next to the airport.

Planned airport improvements under approved airport layout plan:

• Runway 4-22 rehabilitation and related improvements: $8.54 million

• Shift Runway 13-31 and related improvements: $11.5 million

• Total estimate for both projects: $20.05 million

So, city leaders are dusting off old plans for a business park on about 140 acres of airport land to see if it is still feasible. They may also consider a hotel, marina and other uses for the narrow strip on the airport's southeastern quadrant, which is now used by civic groups for festivals.

But any plans for the airport — long a central issue of dissension in the city — are likely to be met with resistance from retirees and nearby residents who toppled City Council members in 2007 when they got too ambitious about building at the airport.

All issues surrounding the future of the airport are likely to be discussed at a joint meeting Tuesday with the City Council and an economic development group.

"We want to have a dialogue on what can and can't be done" on the land, said acting City Manager Nancy Woodley, who said any building would likely be years away and would have to meet Federal Aviation Administration approval.

Former Mayor Ed Martin, whose board fought with the FAA over airport boundaries and waged a legal battle to stop airport growth, said there are many issues to consider before the city pursues development. "Not everyone agrees with it," Martin said, adding that he is not opposed to some development as long as it did not interfere with the festival grounds.

Part of the airport land that could be up for development includes the dilapidated Venice Arena property.

The Venice Circus Arts Foundation is in the midst of a fundraising campaign to preserve the 4,500-seat Venice Arena, where the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus developed its arena acts.

"I'd like to see if the circus people can pull it together," Martin said of the effort to save the arena.

Woodley said the joint meeting Tuesday between the council and the Economic Development Task Force is a first step to get everyone up to speed on the issues and to update financial projections.

"They were overly optimistic on rental rate returns," Woodley said about airport plans dating to 2003 and 2007.

Airport Administrator Chris Rozansky will lead city leaders through airport maps and plans at the meeting. Woodley said whatever the boards decide to do, the city will first have about $20 million in upgrades to make at the airport.

"We have bigger fish to fry first," she said.

The city needs to resolve outstanding issues with the Office of Inspector General and the FAA over its leases and it needs to make about $21 million in airport improvements, including the rehabilitation of a runway.

The City Hall meeting to discuss the airport matters begins at 3 p.m.

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